Amman, Aug. 25 (Petra) – Hikma Pharmaceuticals has reaffirmed its commitment to developing Jordan’s pharmaceutical industry, citing royal support, modern regulations, and a skilled workforce as the foundation for its global expansion.

Mazzen Darwazah, Executive Vice Chairman and President for MENA, told Petra the company has built Jordan into a hub for pharmaceutical production and exports to strategic markets worldwide. Jordan, he noted, is among the region’s oldest producers of human medicines and has grown into a competitive exporter of high-quality drugs.

His remarks followed a recent New York Times report, citing U.S. Pharmacopeia data, that highlighted Jordan’s central role in the global drug supply chain, particularly in providing essential medicines to the U.S. market. The report underscored Jordan’s contribution to producing amoxicillin and lidocaine, two widely used treatments.

Darwazah said Hikma supplies 46% of U.S. demand for amoxicillin and its derivatives produced in Jordan and sold domestically and internationally, including in the American market. According to the report, Jordan handles the final production stage of amoxicillin, accounting for nearly half of U.S. imports of the vital antibiotic.

Jordan’s pharmaceutical sector, he added, covers more than half of the domestic market by volume, saves the public sector over JD25 million annually, and exports over 70% of its output to around 80 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United States, and Europe. The industry has also expanded into biologics for cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Hikma alone generates 75% of sector exports worth more than $465 million annually and its Sahab oncology plant was the first Jordanian facility to gain U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to export to the U.S. and Europe.

Darwazah credited five decades of royal support, from the late King Hussein’s inauguration of Jordan’s first pharmaceutical factory in 1963 to King Abdullah II’s economic modernization initiatives, as central to the sector’s growth. Establishment of the Jordan Food and Drug Administration also enabled compliance with international regulators including the FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Today, Hikma operates nine R&D centers two in Jordan alongside 29 manufacturing plants worldwide. The company, founded in Amman in 1978, is now listed on the London Stock Exchange, employs more than 9,500 people globally, and invests over $149 million annually in research and development. Hikma has held FDA approval for its Jordan plant since 1996, making it one of the top seven suppliers of generic medicines in the United States.

//Petra// AA

25/08/2025 10:36:49